1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator in which an air-cleaner for purifying indoor air is provided on an upper surface of a refrigerator main body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A refrigerator is an electric appliance for keeping foods fresh for a long time by refrigerating or freezing them. Herein, the present invention will be described in connection to a side-by-side type refrigerator in which a freezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber are formed side by side.
FIG. 1 shows a refrigerator having an air-cleaner according to a prior art.
As shown in the figure, an air-cleaner 100 is detachably mounted on an upper surface of a refrigerator 10. The air-cleaner 100 comprises a case 110, filter units 120, a blower 130, and an anion generator 140. The case 110 is provided with inlets I and an outlet O through which air comes in and out. The filter units 120 serve to filter the air sucked through the inlets I. The blower 130 serves to suck the air through the inlets I and discharge the air filtered in the filter units 120 through the outlet O. The anion generator 140 generates anions to be discharged along with the air through the outlet O.
The case 110 includes a blower case 112 and filter cases 116. The blower case 112 is formed in a flat hexahedral shape with open both ends. The filter cases 116 are in communication with the both ends of the blower case 112. The outlet O is formed in a front surface of the blower case 112. The blower 130 and the anion generator 140 are provided in the blower case 112.
In addition, a pair of guide grooves 110a and 110b are formed in a bottom surface of the blower case 112. A pair of guide rails 10a and 10b, which are provided on the upper surface of the refrigerator 10, are inserted into the guide grooves 110a and 110b. 
In the meantime, the inlets I are formed in outer ends of the filter cases 116. The filter units 120 are detachably mounted in the filter cases 116. The filter cases 116 are mounted to be movable from side to side in a state where they are fitted into the blower case 112. A pair of support portions 116a are formed on a bottom surface of each of the filter cases 116. The support portions 116a are supported on the upper surface of the refrigerator 10 so that the filter cases can be flush with the blower case 112.
In addition, a suction grille G is mounted in the inlet I. The suction grille G is provided with a filtering net that serves to filter out foreign materials from the air sucked through the inlets I. A filter mount opening 116h and guide ribs 116L are formed in a front surface and on a floor surface of each of the filter cases 116, respectively. The filter mount opening 116h and the guide ribs 116L are for the purpose of mounting and dismounting the filter unit 120.
The filter unit 120 includes a filter seating portion 126, an antibiotic filter 122, a dust collection filter 123, and a deodorizing filter 124. The filter seating portion 126 is formed in a substantially hexahedral shape with an open upper face. The filter seating portion 126 is mounted in the filter case 116 through the filter mount opening 116h. 
Although not shown, the filter case 116 and/or the filter seating portion 126 are provided with fasteners. The fasteners serve to prevent the filter seating portion 126 from being detached from the filter case 116 inadvertently.
The filter seating portion 126 is guided by the guide ribs 116L. In addition, a plurality of guide portions 128a are provided in the filter seating portion 126. The guide portions 128a serve to secure the filters 122, 123, and 124.
The antibiotic filter 122, the dust collection filter 123, and the deodorizing filter 124 are provided in the filter seating portion 126 in this order from its outer end. The antibiotic filter 122, the dust collection filter 123, and the deodorizing filter 124 serve to remove various kinds of bacteria, dust and odor in air.
The blower 130 comprises a blowing fan (not shown), a fan housing 132, and a driving motor (not shown). An axial flow fan, which radially discharges air sucked axially, is used as the blowing fan. The blowing fan is installed in the fan housing 132. The driving motor serves to drive the blowing fan. The fan housing 132 is fastened with screws (not shown) to bosses provided on a floor surface of the blower case 112. When the driving motor drives the blowing fan, air is sucked through a lower portion of the fan housing 132 and discharged forward.
In addition, an air guide 134 is provided in the blower case 112. The air guide 134 guides air sucked by the blower 130 through the inlets I to be discharged through the outlet O. The interior of the blower case 112 is divided by the air guide 134 into a suction channel a and a discharge channel b.
In the meantime, the anion generator 140 is installed at a side of the discharge channel b adjacent to the blower 130. Anions generated in the anion generator 140 are discharged through the outlet O together with the air blown by the blower 130.
A display 152 is provided at a side of the front surface of the blower case 112. The display 152 serves to display an operational state of the air-cleaner 100 to the outside. In addition, an operating unit 154 is provided at the side of the front surface of the blower case 112 adjacent to the display 152. The operating unit 154 receives a variety of signals for operating the air-cleaner 100.
However, the refrigerator having the air-cleaner according to the prior art has the following problems.
The filter seating portion 126 may be mounted in the filter case 116 out of place, or a front surface of the filter seating portion 126 may be slanted with respect to the front surface of the filter case 116 due to the distortion of the filter seating portion 126 itself and the like. However, in the prior art, even if such a case occurs, the relative slant of the filter seating portion 126 cannot be corrected, resulting in deterioration of a front appearance of the air-cleaner 100.
In addition, in order to replace or clean the filters 122, 123 and 124, the filter seating portion 126 should be drawn out of the filter case 116. To this end, the fasteners that cause the filter seating portion 126 to be fastened in the filter case 116 should be released. Then, the filter seating portion 126 is drawn out of the filter case 116. That is, it is required to perform two operations: the operation for releasing both the filter case 116 and the filter seating portion 126 fastened to each other and the operation for drawing the filter seating portion 126 from the filter case 116.
Air sucked through the inlets I is introduced into a lower face of the fan housing 132 in the axial direction of the blowing fan. That is, a flow passage along which the air sucked through the inlet I is introduced into the fan housing 132 is relatively prolonged. Thus, the efficiency of the air-cleaner 100 is deteriorated.
In the meantime, the air introduced through the lower face of the fan housing 132 is discharged through a front face of the fan housing 132. Then, the air discharged through the front face of the fan housing 132 is discharged to the interior of a room through the outlet O. At this time, the air discharged to the front face of the fan housing 132 flows toward the middle of the outlet O. Therefore, there is a problem in that the air discharged through the outlet O cannot be discharged uniformly even though the air is guided by the air guide 134.
In addition, the fan housing 132 is fastened with screws to the bosses provided on the bottom surface of the blower case 112. Therefore, vibration generated when the blowing fan installed in the fan housing 132 operates is transmitted to the air-cleaner 100 and the refrigerator through the fan housing 132 and the bosses. Thus, due to the vibration generated when the blower 130 operates, noise may occur. In addition, due to the vibration, there are problems in that parts of the refrigerator or the air-cleaner 100 may be damaged or the fastened portions thereof are released, and thus, the durability of the article is deteriorated.
The display 152 is provided at the side of the front surface of the case 110. However, an area that the display 152 may occupy in the front surface of the case 110 is limited to an area obtained at least except an area that the outlet O occupies in the front surface of the case 110. Therefore, there is a problem in that it is not impossible to easily check whether the air-cleaner 100 operates, through the display 152 at positions remote from the refrigerator.